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But although it seems counterintuitive, IBMs prize money actually will generate much more interest, experts predict, since IBM is actually asking for a more reasonable commitment. "CA is asking for a different kind of developer, a different commitment," said James Governor, an analyst at RedMonk, in London.
"Cloudscape is targeted at Java developers, who dont have a lot of relational database skills," Governor said. "Theyre certainly not the DBA [database administrator] class youd expect in an environment like Ingres."
Putting a smaller dollar item on Cloudscape Java applications will attract more attention, given the nature of the Java community, he said.

"In the Ingres community, [its a question of], I have to go learn an entirely new thing that doesnt tie into what I do, but then, it is $1 million. As opposed to [the Java community saying], This is something Im very interested in and it seems like a more bite-sized chunk. Ill go for that."

The reason that the open-source and Java communities are excited about Cloudscape is that theyve long needed a fully embeddable, 100 percent Java, small-footprint storage solution that doesnt need handholding by DBAsor what IBM is referring to as a "database in a jar."
"Thats appealing to Java developers," Governor said. "Im just dropping it in, and I have a database. Thats a powerful little message."
According to Les King, program director of DB2 marketing, there have been more than 45,000 Cloudscape downloads from IBMs developerWorks site to date. The software, which comprised some half-million lines of database code valued at $85 million when it was donated to the Apache Software Foundation, is now in incubator stage while Apache vets its intellectual property status and makes sure theres a viable community for it.

Brian Fitzpatrick, vice president of public relations at Apache, said the open-source community is displaying a "great deal of interest" in Cloudscape, with contributors already contributing patches, "which is always a good thing," he said.
Apache has about nine developers working on Derby, along with three patch submitters. Its users mailing list has more than 150 subscribers, and its developers mailing list has almost 200, said Fitzpatrick, in Chicago.
The ApacheCon contest will take place on-site. The rules and details will be announced at the conferences opening plenary. Submissions will be accepted from Monday morning until Tuesday evening. The results of the contest will be announced at the closing plenary session Wednesday evening, when prizes will be awarded. Developers must be present at the closing plenary to win prizes.
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Lisa Vaas is News Editor/Operations for eWEEK.com and also serves as editor of the Database topic center. Since 1995, she has also been a Webcast news show anchorperson and a reporter covering the IT industry. She has focused on customer relationship management technology, IT salaries and careers, effects of the H1-B visa on the technology workforce, wireless technology, security, and, most recently, databases and the technologies that touch upon them. Her articles have appeared in eWEEK's print edition, on eWEEK.com, and in the startup IT magazine PC Connection. Prior to becoming a journalist, Vaas experienced an array of eye-opening careers, including driving a cab in Boston, photographing cranky babies in shopping malls, selling cameras, typography and computer training. She stopped a hair short of finishing an M.A. in English at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. She earned a B.S. in Communications from Emerson College. She runs two open-mic reading series in Boston and currently keeps bees in her home in Mashpee, Mass.